Architect / David Baker Architects / Richardson Apartments
4
DRS. JULIAN AND RAYE RICHARDSON APARTMENTS TEXT BY LISA FINDLEY PHOTOS BY BRUCE DAMONTE SAN FRANCISCO DAVID BAKER + PARTNERS “The soluTion To homelessness is a home,” says David Schnur, director of housing development for the San Francisco–based nonprofit Community Housing Partnership (CHP), while sitting in the courtyard of the new Richardson apartments. “This is not transitional housing—it is permanent. As long as someone pays their rent and follows our basic house rules, they can stay here for life.” Designed by local firm David Baker + Partners, the Richardson was developed in collaboration with another nonprofit—Mercy Housing—but is owned and managed by CHP. It provides 120 300-square-foot studio apartments as well as a medical clinic and psychological counseling services for the formerly homeless and for those in danger of becoming homeless. The five-story, U-shaped building hosts glass-fronted retail spaces at the corner and along one street edge. Its massing is carefully controlled by shifts in surface and materials on the façade, moving from zinc cladding with recycled wood insets, to simply detailed white stucco, to a carefully calibrated chartreuse paint. “We expected the zinc piece to get value-engineered out,” says project architect Amit Price Patel, “but the slow economy worked in our favor. We got to keep it along with a lot of other more refined and durable materials and surfaces.” And durability is key. Behind its gracious urban façade, the building houses a community that can be rough on a building: Many residents have physical or psychological disabilities, while others have been on the street so long that they have forgotten how to care for a permanent home. “As the owners of our buildings, we prefer to upgrade materials to maximize life-cycle and maintenance costs,” Schnur says. “A well-designed and maintained building also adds dignity to the lives of our residents.” Security is necessary, but is not overbearing. Discreetly placed cameras scan the exterior of the building. No resident has a key to the front door. Instead, they are buzzed into a secure lobby by the front desk—staffed 24 hours a day by trained personnel—before being admitted to the rest of the facility. But nothing about the entry sequence feels institutional: the custom-designed front desk and mailboxes would not be out of place in a high-end loft building. Generous windows connect the lobby with an adjacent lounge, fostering community while allowing oversight. A landscaped central courtyard features custom-designed tables and seating, and allows residents to gather outside, away from the street. Foldable glass walls in the ground-floor multipurpose room open onto the courtyard. On the other side, the clinic takes advantage of the daylight but still maintains privacy with a patterned glass wall. Anchoring one end of the courtyard is an open-air staircase. “I like to put these exterior stairs in,” design principal David Baker, FAIA, says. “They … foster chance encounters between residents.” On the four apartment floors, what might have been drab, double-loaded corridors instead are deftly designed with brightly painted light coves carved into the ceiling at the unit doors. The efficiently laid-out apartments come with durable custom furniture and basic kitchen equipment. The Richardson sits just two blocks from the gilded dome of San Francisco City Hall. The project initially provoked a NIMBY response from residents of the rebounding neighborhood, necessitating extensive work with various community groups to assuage concerns. The city, however, was a huge advocate for the project from the beginning. The site was granted to the developers by the Redevelopment Agency, and the city waived parking-space requirements. The Richardson cost $26.8 million to build, and that price tag seems high with rents set at just 30 to 50 percent of the income of each resident. Schnur maintains that the quality of the architecture was eminently important in winning over the neighbors. In addition, he says, “Our tenants feel good living in good architecture. They are motivated to keep their lives together so they can stay.” And the Richardson will save the city money as well. Dr. Joshua Bamberger, medical director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health ran the numbers using records for the 120 Richardson residents. Last year, they used $2.4 million in city and other services. With the on- site clinic alone, it is expected that these costs will be drastically reduced. Bamberger looks forward to doing the math again next year, and in so doing, prove the value of housing the homeless.
Transcript of Architect / David Baker Architects / Richardson Apartments
Drs. Julian anD raye richarDson apartments
text by lisa findleyphotos by bruce damonte
San FranciSco DaviD Baker + Partners
“The soluTion To homelessness is a home,” says David Schnur, director of housing development for the San Francisco–based nonprofit Community Housing Partnership (CHP), while sitting in the courtyard of the new Richardson apartments. “This is not transitional housing—it is permanent. As long as someone pays their rent and follows our basic house rules, they can stay here for life.”
Designed by local firm David Baker + Partners, the Richardson was developed in collaboration with another nonprofit—Mercy Housing—but is owned and managed by CHP. It provides 120 300-square-foot studio apartments as well as a medical clinic and psychological counseling services for the formerly homeless and for those in danger of becoming homeless.
The five-story, U-shaped building hosts glass-fronted retail spaces at the corner and along one street edge. Its massing is carefully controlled by shifts in surface and materials on the façade, moving from zinc cladding with recycled wood insets, to simply detailed white stucco, to a carefully calibrated chartreuse paint. “We expected the zinc piece to get value-engineered out,” says project architect Amit Price Patel, “but the slow economy worked in our favor. We got to keep it along with a lot of other more refined and durable materials and surfaces.”
And durability is key. Behind its gracious urban façade, the building houses a community that can be rough on a building: Many residents have physical or psychological disabilities, while others have been on the street so long that they have forgotten how to care for a permanent home. “As the owners of our buildings, we prefer to upgrade materials to maximize life-cycle and maintenance costs,” Schnur says. “A well-designed and maintained building also adds dignity to the lives of our residents.”
Security is necessary, but is not overbearing. Discreetly placed cameras scan the exterior of the building. No resident has a key to the front door. Instead, they are buzzed into a secure lobby by the front desk—staffed 24 hours a day by trained personnel—before being admitted to the rest of the facility. But nothing about the entry sequence feels institutional: the custom-designed front desk and mailboxes would not be out of place in a high-end loft building. Generous windows connect the lobby with an adjacent lounge, fostering community while allowing oversight.
A landscaped central courtyard features custom-designed tables and seating, and allows residents to gather outside, away from the street. Foldable glass walls in the ground-floor multipurpose room open onto the courtyard. On the other side, the clinic takes advantage of the daylight but still maintains privacy with a patterned glass wall. Anchoring one end of the courtyard is an open-air staircase. “I like to put these exterior stairs in,” design principal David Baker, FAIA, says. “They … foster chance encounters between residents.”
On the four apartment floors, what might have been drab, double-loaded corridors instead are deftly designed with brightly painted light coves carved into the ceiling at the unit doors. The efficiently laid-out apartments come with durable custom furniture and basic kitchen equipment.
The Richardson sits just two blocks from the gilded dome of San Francisco City Hall. The project initially provoked a NIMBY response from residents of the rebounding neighborhood, necessitating extensive work with various community groups to assuage concerns. The city, however, was a huge advocate for the project from the beginning. The site was granted to the developers by the Redevelopment Agency, and the city waived parking-space requirements.
The Richardson cost $26.8 million to build, and that price tag seems high with rents set at just 30 to 50 percent of the income of each resident. Schnur maintains that the quality of the architecture was eminently important in winning over the neighbors. In addition, he says, “Our tenants feel good living in good architecture. They are motivated to keep their lives together so they can stay.” And the Richardson will save the city money as well. Dr. Joshua Bamberger, medical director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health ran the numbers using records for the 120 Richardson residents. Last year, they used $2.4 million in city and other services. With the on-site clinic alone, it is expected that these costs will be drastically reduced. Bamberger looks forward to doing the math again next year, and in so doing, prove the value of housing the homeless.
Named for local activists Julian and Raye Richardson, the Richardson Apartments sits on land left vacant after the removal of a freeway spur. To break up the building massing, the architects employed several surfaces and materials on the façade (this image). The building is topped with a partial green roof (opposite top), planters for resident gardens, and a photovoltaic array and solar hot-water heaters. A courtyard (opposite bottom) provides another outdoor gathering space for residents.
design→ DaviD baker + partners
Ground-floor communal spaces, including the resident lounge (this image), feature board-formed concrete walls and polished concrete floors. Extensive glazing allows for views between many of the lower-level spaces (opposite middle) but a pattern applied to the windows of the clinic and counseling spaces (opposite top) maintains privacy. The robust materiality of the public spaces continues in the units themselves (opposite bottom), which incorporate highly durable cabinetry, quality furniture, tiled bathrooms, and easy-to-maintain plumbing. Staggered stud walls between units mitigate sound.
design→ DaviD baker + partners
design→ DaviD baker + partners
Project Credits
Project Drs. Julian and raye richardson apartments, San Francisco
Client community Housing Partnership, Mercy Housing california
architect and interior Designer David Baker + Partners, San Francisco—
David Baker, Faia (design principal); Peter MacKenzie, aia (principal-in-charge);
amit c. Price Patel, aia (project architect); Brit Epperson, amanda Loper, aia,
Sara Mae Martens, angela Thomson, John Thompson, aia
M/P engineer Tommy Siu and associates Mechanical Engineers
electrical engineer FW associates
structural engineer Structural Design Engineers
Civil engineer Sandis
General Contractor cahill contractors
Landscape architect andrea cochran Landscape architecture
Lighting Designer Horton Lees Brogden
affiliated Government agency San Francisco redevelopment agency
Owners’ representative Design Studios Gonzalo castro
associate architect Baker Vilar architects
security systems Teletech Security
solar Sun, Light and Power
interiors Furnishings and equipment Fee Munson Ebert (common spaces);
Market Design (residential units)
Public art Evelyn reyes/creativity Explored
Clinic/Health services UcSF citywide case Management Program; San Francisco
Department of Public Health
Work training Toolworks
acoustical engineer Wilson ihrig & associates
Waterproofing Consultant Gale associates
size 65,419 square feet
Cost $26.86 million (construction)
Materials and sources
adhesives, Coatings, and sealants 3M 3m.com; United states gypsum Co. usg.com;
sika sika.com; BAsF basf.com; sherwin-Williams Co. sherwin-williams.com; duPont
www2.dupont.com; dAP dap.com; general electric ge.com; Hilti hilti.com/holcom;
dow Corning Corp. dowcorning.com; Rd Taylor and Co. rdtaylor.co.uk; surtec
surtec.com
Concrete U.s. Concrete us-concrete.com; Headwaters Construction Materials
headwaterscm.com; Hanson, part of Heidelberg Cement heidelbergcement.com;
West Coast Aggregates wcagg.com; BAsF basf.com
exterior Wall systems Fortifiber Building systems group fortifiber.com; Vaproshield
vaproshield.com; georgia-Pacific gp.com; Vycor www.na.graceconstruction.com;
Fry Reglet fryreglet.com; stockton Products stocktonproducts.com; Western Metal
decorating & Finishing western-metal.com; structa Wire Corp. structawire.com;
sto Corp. stocorp.com
Furniture Ohio design ohiodesign.com; Mueller nicholls mnbuild.com; Pacassa
studios; Baltix sustainable Furniture baltix.com; steelcase steelcase.com;
emeco emeco.net
HvaC FAMCO famcomfg.com; Runtal north America runtalnorthamerica.com;
Us Aire metalindustriesinc.com/usaire; greenheck greenheck.com; Twin City
Fan & Blower tcf.com; Laars Heating systems Co. laars.com; United enertech
unitedenertech.com; Modine Mfg. Co. www.modine.com; danfoss danfoss.com
Lighting Philips day-Brite daybrite.com; Birchwood Lighting birchwoodlighting
.com; spectrum Lighting speclight.com; national specialty Lighting nslusa.com;
Prudential Ltg. prulite.com; HK Lighting group hklightinggroup.com; evergreen
evergreenlighting.com; Cooper Lighting iO cooperindustries.com; dasal industries
dasalindustries.com; B-K Lighting bklighting.com; WF Harris; Holophane
holophane.com; Brownlee Lighting brownlee.com; seagull Lighting Products
seagulllighting.com; Lithonia Lighting lithonia.com
Metal Rheinzink rheinzink.com
roofing American Hydrotech hydrotechusa.com; Johns Manville jm.com
seating green Waste Recycle Yard/Custom Metal Manufacturing
greenwasterecycleyard.com; eggli Landscape Contractors egglilandscape.com;
Modern Outdoor modernoutdoor.com
site Products Concreteworks concreteworks.com; Creative Pipe creativepipe.com;
Forms+surfaces forms-surfaces.com; Rasmussen iron Works rasmussen.biz
Windows, Curtainwalls, and Doors Arcadia Architectural Products arcadiaproducts.
com; nanaWall systems nanawall.com; safti First Fire-Rated glazing solutions
safti.com; U.s. Aluminum www.usalum.com; Oregon doors oregondoor.com;
door Components doorcomponents.com
For a full list of Materials and Sources, visit architectmagazine.com.
First-Floor Plan
typical apartment-Level Plan
0 20 40 N
offices
retail
counseling suite
Medical clinic
Entrance Lobby
Lounge
Laundry
Kitchen
community room
courtyard
Elevators Terrace
apartments
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